I can speak to this. That stairwell is not part of Noisebridge proper.
It goes all the way down and exits to the right of the grocery. It is
technically supposed to be a fire exit, BUT the grocers have locked the
bottom door as they use the corridor down there for storage (fruit as I
recall). There was a push, back when we first moved in, to get them to
not do that so we could actually have a fire exit in case of actual fire
(a fire by the elevator might block both the front stairs and the fire
escape). We were unsuccessful in this effort at the time, and the
attempt was abandoned. Thus the "Not an exit" sign, so people didn't go
down it trying to just leave, get stopped at the bottom, and have to
climb all the way back up.
If I were there, and a fire blocking the other exits occurred, I would
grab the heaviest object I can, go down those stairs, and use my object
to go through the lock, or a wall. I think it would be wise not to
block that stairwell.
Can I interest you in the OTHER stairwell, under the dj booth (or
whatever it's called now)? That one goes only to the 2nd floor, but the
door at the bottom is nailed shut. Or was last I checked. It's a lot
smaller though.
Rachel1.0
On 4/13/13 12:42 AM, Mitchel McAllister wrote:
> Jarrod and I were talking the other day about options for making member shelves less prone to egoist models of possession (i.e., theft).
>> After perusing the excellent map of the space Jarrod did, we noticed that there is a space that is approximately the same footage as the area currently occupied by the member shelves, and is currently under-used.
>> The stairwell space next to the dark room presents several possibilities. As there is a sign on it saying that it is not an exit, it would seem that the stairway is "dead space" anyway.
>> One option is to "floor over" the stairs and build shelves in there. A disadvantage is that the width of the stairway is not wide enough to accommodate shelves on either wall and a wheelchair in between. However, shelves on the landing area, if reserved for differently-abled members, is more than wide enough. Jarrod made the point that we would need to engineer a very sturdy floor. I am quite comfortable with the idea of over-engineering this.
>> The other option, which is predicated on the theory that the second floor tenants don't have access to that stairway, is to just build shelves on either side, leaving the stairs intact and open. Once again, shelves on the landing would need to be reserved for differently-abled users. Also, using ladders to get to shelves would be problematic, as there would be no flat floor to put it on.
>> Now for a couple pluses. For one, this would allow access to the shelves to be curtailed, possibly by a lock or other means. Also, it would be very obvious that someone was trying to get in there. Also, we could possibly wind up with more shelf space, since we could build all the way up to the ceiling, more or less. And once again, this is space that isn't being used for anything other than some junk that appears to have little value except scrap and making a bit of noise if someone tries to open the door. There is plenty of other places in the space where we can (and do) pile junk.
>> Jarrod (not me) suggested that if we did that, we could create a more "quiet" area where the member shelves currently are, with a bonus of some natural light and air flow from the window.
>> The reason we didn't do-acratically do this is because 1) we don't know if that stairway is technically part of the third floor or not, 2) we do not know if the stairway is considered an escape route in case of fire (if it is, why do we have a sign saying "not an exit"?), 3) we figured that doing this without checking could potentially bring some unexcellent consequences on the space, either from the landlord, the 2nd floor tenants, unknown parties within Noisebridge, etc.
>> Most importantly, we would need a bit of buy-in from those currently with member-shelf space, because we wouldn't feel comfortable moving your stuff. No, not even with a signed waiver.
>> Let the kvetching begin.
>> - Reverend Mik McAllister
> "You can see the summit but you can't reach it
> Its the last piece of the puzzle but you just can't make it fit
> Doctor says you're cured but you still feel the pain
> Aspirations in the clouds but your hopes go down the drain"
> - Howard Jones, "No One Is To Blame"
> Purveyor of Subversive Fiction
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